Nasser Al-Attiyah Seeks to Retain Title in 46th Dakar Rally

Doha, January 04 (QNA) - Qatari driver Nasser Saleh Al Attiyah is preparing to defend his title, when he participates tomorrow in the competitions of the 46th edition of the Dakar Rally, which starts from the area of Al-Ula, North-West Saudi Arabia. This rally will see the participation of 778 drivers in all categories (cars, motorcycles, quads and trucks), of whom 135 are beginners participating for the first time, along with 129 veterans who have competed in the Dakar at least 10 times.
   Al Attiyah is looking forward to retaining his title for the third year in a row and raising the number of his victories in total to six. He told reporters: "The last Dakar was difficult for everyone. It's incredible that I was able to hold on to my title."
  The Qatari driver won the Dakar title for the first time in 2011 with Volkswagen, and repeated the same scenario in 2015 behind the wheel of a Mini before taking first place with Toyota in 2019, 2022 and 2023.
   Al-Attiyah had decided to leave the Toyota Gazoo team, with which he won the title three times, to join the Prodrive Hunter team. Regarding this new step, the 19-time Middle East Rally Champion said that he was so happy to have won five times and to be part of a new team and to take on a new challenge for the next Dakar.
  The Dakar Rally, the first round of the World Rally Championship, crosses Saudi Arabia from west to east in 14 days, covering a total distance of 7861 kilometers, of which 4716 kilometers are special stages of speed.
   The rally will begin tomorrow with a preliminary qualifying stage in the Al-Ula region, northwest of the country - a new 48-hour stage - and the participants will continue their path towards the south-east for three days in the Rub' al Khali desert, where for the first time a two-day stage will be held in Shubaytah, which is called "48 hours", with a total distance of 781 km, including 572 km of a special stage.
   After a rest day in the capital, Riyadh (January 13), participants will compete in a phase of  873 km of distance, including 483 km of a special phase. It is the longest in Dakar and is characterized by difficult paths that pass between rocky canyons and parts of sand dunes.
   The rally concludes on January 19, with the twelfth stage held in Yanbu on the shores of the Red Sea. (QNA)